Civil society NGO i-Kollettiv has called for electoral reform and a transparency register for politicians, saying that the country deserves serious and transparent governance.
The group issued a statement in reaction to the European Commission’s rule of law report, which highlighted stagnation in Malta when it comes to media freedom and anti-corruption measures.
In response to the commission’s call for the constitutional reform process to be reactivated by the president after it stalled in 2019, the group deputy secretary and former PL MEP Cyrus Engerer said it was necessary to do so in order “to have a modern, strong democracy that truly is representative of the entire society”.
"We believe that before the next general election, various reforms including those of the electoral system, the party financing law, the operation of parliament and of the executive, as well as the broadcasting sector are essential," Engerer said.
He also said that citizens must have increased and continuous access to information as well as participation in the government’s decisions
"In our country, not only do citizens lack organised access to how they can participate in the legislative process, as noted by the European Commission, but at every level of governance, even journalists are deprived of information and public documents that are of interest to anyone living in Malta," Engerer continued.
Freedom of information requests must be taken seriously by the government, which the group accused of being more interested in hiding public documents than ensuring their accessibility.
"We also believe that a Transparency Register should be introduced, which every politician in our country should be subject to. Meetings held by politicians with people and organisations representing interests are meetings conducted on behalf of citizens and therefore all information about them should be in the public domain," Engerer said.
Il-Kollettiv secretary Wayne Flask called for increased “sobriety” in local governance.
"The Maltese government cannot ignore the recommendations made by public inquiries, which sometimes it has even requested itself. It is shameful how three years after the inquiry was published following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, practically all the recommendations remain only on paper without any action or implementation," he said.
He added that, while concurring with the commission’s assertion that the inquiry recommendations should be implemented immediately, Flask also noted that reform is also needed within the Permanent Commission Against Corruption.
"To have serious, transparent, and representative governance, we believe we cannot wait any longer for Malta to have a Human Rights Commission and an essential change in the Whistleblower Act to protect all those who fight against wrongdoing," he said.
Il-Kolletiv is calling for the launch of an electoral reform as well as a parliamentary reform process, reform of the party financing law and reform in broadcasting.
It also proposed the creation of a transparency register for politicians and public servants as well as making it obligatory for all requests made under the Freedom of Information Act to receive a reply.
Additionally, the group wants to see reform in the Permanent Commission Against Corruption, the establishment of a Human Rights Commission and suitable protection for whistleblowers.